One Freezing Night
by Lizzy '-' rocks
Summary: It's just another snowy midwinter night like any other, but with one key difference- Len is nowhere to be seen. Kaito sets out to find him, but something is wrong when he does. What's wrong with Len? Why has he been avoiding Kaito? (Kaito X Len one-shot)


A/N- Wow, two Vocaloid one-shots in two days... I should really be spending my first few days of summer break better XD

And this story isn't even summery at all... It takes place in the middle of winter. Well, I did write it when it was uncomfortably warm after a test one day... anywho, hope you guys like it!

Enjoy~

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It was a frigid, below-zero midwinter night, with snow dancing heavily down to earth. It was the sort of weather that made Kaito want to curl up in the window seat with hot chocolate and a warm blanket, maybe with some smooth jazz playing in the background, and just _be_. He was, in fact, more than halfway there already- he was sitting in the front room's window seat, although there was no aura of peace or relaxation around him. His current mood could, in fact, best be described as agitation or concern- partially (or maybe mostly) because a certain blonde boy was nowhere to be seen.

It wasn't that Kaito felt compelled to keep tabs on Len's location at all times, but Kaito had noticed him leaving earlier that afternoon- and, with the snow that was now falling and the fact that he had yet to return, he couldn't help worrying.

Deciding that there was was no way he could possibly relax knowing that the other boy was most likely out in the cold somewhere, Kaito got up and walked to the door, noting that Len's thickest jacket was still hanging on a hook by the door. His thick boots were there also, which Kaito took to mean that he had probably run out the door in tennis shoes and the light sweatshirt he had been wearing earlier. Sighing, Kaito put on his own coat and boots, and set out.

The frigid air washed over him, brutally stinging like a slap in the face, and he tightened the scarf that hung loosely around his neck. Making his way down the driveway, taking extra care not to slip, Kaito proceeded down the sidewalk. He had no idea where Len had gone, and was just following his gut instinct, hoping that if he looked hard enough he might chance upon the younger blonde.

"Where did you go, Len?" He mumbled to himself, once again wondering what on earth had possessed him to go outside in such weather- whenever it was even a little bit cold, Len was always the one to protest that it was freezing and refused to go outside, opting instead to stay inside and play video games. _If I were Len, where would I go?_ Kaito knew Len wasn't with his sister, as he had seen her leave with a group of school friends for a sleepover earlier that day. Something must have upset him, that was the only logical explanation- but _what_? The only way of finding an answer to that question would be to figure out where Len had run off to.

Kaito came up with an idea then- maybe he had gone to the park? It might have seemed a little bit childish, but Kaito knew that Len liked the calming, peaceful atmosphere there, and it seemed that there was a high possibility that he was there now. It was dark, though, and freezing- although the chances were slim that he would actually be there, Kaito figured it was his best bet, as he didn't have any other ideas.

It only took him about ten minutes to reach the small neighborhood park, and he strained his eyes to look through both the thickening snow and the near- complete darkness. It seemed as though the street lights in the park had been turned off, but Kaito's eyes adjusted soon enough.

He knew his way around well enough to wander to the playground without running into anything besides a tree, and called out, "Len?" only to receive no response- not that he entirely expected one in the first place. He climbed up the too-small play structure, and had nearly made it from one end to the other without seeing anything when he spotted what might, if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, have been a blonde-haired boy.

The blue-haired man clambered over none too gracefully, being almost comedically too large for the child sized structure, and saw that it was, in fact, Len. He was surprisingly asleep, and snow had collected on top of him forming a small hat on top of his head as well as sticking on his eyelashes and lightly dusting the rest of him. Even in his sleep, he was curled into himself and shivering violently. Kaito had been right- Len was wearing only a black hoodie to protect him from the cold.

"Len? Hey, wake up..." Kaito asked tentatively, trying to brush some of the accumulated snow off of his younger friend. Len stirred, leaning slightly into Kaito's ungloved hand, sighing drowsily before slowly opening his eyes.

"K-Kaito? W-what're you...?" Len's teeth were audibly chattering, and he still looked half-asleep, as well as freezing cold. Kaito pressed his warmer hand to Len's cheek, and fought the urge to pull away from the frigid flesh. WIthout a second thought, he pulled off his own thick jacket and passed it to Len.

"Len, I could ask you the same thing- what were _you_ doing? What's wrong?" Kaito was starting to feel considerably colder now, but the small smile of contentment on Len's face as he pulled on the blue-haired man's jacked sufficed to warm him up almost more than the jacket would have. Len shook his head in response to Kaito's question, and the small pile of snow slipped off the top of his head.

"I just-" Len sneezed loudly, probably from having been outside for so long. "Can we go home now? It's c-cold..." Although Kaito was still curious, he knew that there was no reason to force Len to talk when he was still so clearly uncomfortable. Kaito nodded, pulling himself to his feet before offering a hand to Len.

Once they were off of the uneven surface of the playground, Kaito gestured for Len to climb on his back- he still looked miserable and exhausted, and clambered up without protest, and resting his head against Kaito's shoulder.

"Thank you for coming to find me..." Len mumbled into Kaito's scarf. Kaito smiled, shifting the boy's position on his back slightly before saying,

"Well, I couldn't just leave you out there to freeze, could I?" Len didn't answer that, and the two made their way home in silence. Although Kaito had given Len his jacket, he didn't feel cold- the younger boy's presence had a way of keeping him warm, inside and out.

Once they reached to house, Kaito put Len down and told him to go take a shower and put on dry clothes- the snow on his clothes had melted, leaving him soaking wet. Len didn't protest, and made his way upstairs, still shivering slightly.

Meanwhile, Kaito settled himself back into the window seat that had before seemed so comfortable and welcoming. Now, however, he was too distracted to notice it. No matter how much he tried to distract himself, Kaito couldn't get the image of Len out of his head- how he had lain there, curled up against himself t o preserve his own body heat against the wind and bitter cold, yet managing to look peaceful and somehow peaceful in spite of it.

It didn't take long for Len to come back downstairs, now dressed in loose pajama pants and a t-shirt. His hair was loose around his shoulders, and he held a brush and hair tie in one hand.

"You want help with your hair?" Kaito offered. Len nodded, walking over to kneel with his back to Kaito, who was still sitting in the window seat. "you know..." Kaito said, running his fingers through Len's still-damp hair. " you never told me why exactly you were out there." Len, once again, took a long time to answer.

"There was no one else here- well, besides you, I mean, and-" Len winced as Kaito accidentally pulled on a tangle in his hair.

"What do you mean? Len, are you... Avoiding me?" Len sighed, his shoulders slumping forward a bit.

"Well, not exactly, I just kind of... Um, maybe a little?" Kaito pulled the hair tie around Len's hair, then put a hand on his shoulder. Len turned halfway around, but avoided Kaito's eyes.

"Listen-" Kaito placed. His fingers under Len's chin and gently forced him to look up, drawing a blush from the blonde. "-I can tell there's something bugging you. I don't know if it's something I did, or what, but you have to tell me, okay?" Len's eyes took on a deer-in-the - headlights expression.

"You didn't do anything, but... Well..." Kaito was confused by Len's response.

"Well then, can you tell me why you didn't want to be alone with me? I've never... Done anything do you, have I?" Kaito wracked his brain to think of what he could have possibly done to make Len avoid him.

"No, you haven't- but, I thought that of there wasn't anyone else here then I'd have to talk to you, and if I had to talk to you then I might accidentally tell you that I like-" Len's cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red.

"That you like...?" Kaito prompted.

"-Y-you..." Kaito was thoroughly taken aback by this. He had thought that Len had been about to say something else, something random or stupid or completely unimportant. However...

"Oh." Kaito finally said. Len looked away, cheeks still flushed with emotion. "Well, Len, I..."

"I know. I know you don't like me back, at least not that way. I know you're a lot older than me, and I'm practically your younger brother, b-but..." Kaito smiled at how flustered the younger boy had become.

"You're wrong, you know." he said, rubbing a hand soothingly over Len's baby-soft cheek. "I don't think of you as just a little brother, Len." the blonde boy's eyes widened in realization, and he visibly froze.

"R-really?" he sounded skeptical, as though he thought Kaito wasn't serious about what he said

"Yes, really." Kaito smiled, before leaning down to press his lips softly to Len's. He pulled away after a moment, however, saying,

"You are right on one thing, though- I am a lot older than you." Len shook his head.

"I don't... care." he mumbled, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Kaito's middle. "I'm so happy..." Len gave a contented sigh, his cheek pressed into the front of Kaito's shirt. "And... Thank you. For coming to find me. I'm sorry if you were worried." Kaito frowned.

"Well, of course I was worried, silly. But you're okay now, and that all that matters, okay?" Len nodded, snuggling closer. "I love you, Len" Kaito pressed his lips onto the top of Len's head.

"I love you too..."

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A/N- I feel like this ending was really cheesy... whatever. It was that or I end it with something lemon-y, and I DON'T write lemony stuff. So I hope this sufficed.

Remember, reviews are author food- so don't make me starve, m'kay? :)


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